Built Heritage Culture Group

April 2014

Carrickfergus Castle by Adrian Margey

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On 25th March a small party travelled to Carrickfergus Castle the Medieval Capital of Ulster since it was built in 1177 (only a century after the Battle of Hastings) by John De Courcy the first Anglo-Norman Earl of Ulster.

While the Built Heritage Project will not be covering the Norman Period until the latter part of 2015, the opportunity to see an active archaeological dig before it finished at the end of March was not to be missed. This trip replaced the scheduled one to the east coast of Antrim (see later).

Our host Ruairi O’Baoill, from Q U B, the assistant Excavation Director, gave us a brief overview of the history of the Castle from its beginnings right up until the middle of the 20 th Century when the site was handed over to the recently formed Government of Northern Ireland.

A brief history of the Castle can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/…/Carrickfergus_Castle while a description of the dig is at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-26540165

Following lunch the group walked around the Woodburn Reservoirs Area of Scientific Interest http//www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/colour_leaflet_of_south_woodburn_assi.pdf

A selection of photos taken by the group follow.

If anybody has difficulty with this PowerPoint presentation, e.g. slippage of photo captions etc, please let me know and I can send you the WORD version.

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Assistant Excavation Director (yellow jacket) outlines the history of the Castle

Excavation trenches in the Castle Keep

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Excavation of a portion of the courtyard next to the westward curtain wall. The parallel rails date from the time of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) and were for the use of moving munitions from the arsenal to the 22 gun battery.

The layer of rubble just below the surface is from more recent building degradation. e-Bulletin 5

South Woodburn ASSI

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April Field Trip

The next field trip will depart from the East Strand Car Park, Portrush on Tuesday 29 th April at 9.45 am. We shall be travelling along the East Antrim Coast Road looking at a variety of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age sites. A small amount of uphill walking will be involved so appropriate footwear should be worn.

There is a lot to see so we may not be back in Portrush until around 6.30-7.00 pm.

Visit to Newgrange and the Hill of Tara

The activities of the group will officially cease for the summer with an overnight trip to see Newgrange Tumulus and The Hill of Tara at the beginning of June. Arrangements for this have been finalised.

In addition to this I shall be happy to lead a hike on the Carntogher Archaeology Trail:

(near Maghera) during June.

http://www.walkni.com/d/walks/319/Carntogher%20History%20Trail%20Guide.pdf

The hike will be c. 8 kms on minor roads and mountain trails and will ascend 280 m to the Emigrants Cairn on Carntogher Mountain at a height of 450 m. A reasonable level of fitness is required.

Please let me know if you are interested and if so the dates on which you will NOT BE AVAILABLE. A date has not yet been selected but with the U3A calendar curtailed for the summer there should be plenty of opportunities.

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The view westwards to the Antrim Hills from the Emigrants Cairn, Carntogher Mountain: Photo taken 30/03/14 by Dave Southall. The panorama westwards includes the Sperrin Mountains, Lough Foyle and the Hills of Donegal.

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Thanks to all those who regularly attended the Built Heritage Field Trips this semester and especially to Loretto Blackwood who helped me with digital technicalities and problems in preparing the e-Bulletins

I look forward to your continued support in the Autumn when we shall be exploring the Built Heritage of the Early Christian Period.

Dave Southall

Group Leader

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